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Whether you live in Washington state, Oregon or British Columbia, you’d better move quickly – tickets are going fast for the ninth annual Seattle Wine and Food Experience. If you like good wine, beer and food, mark your calendars for this taste explosion on Feb. 24-26.

“The Seattle Wine and Food Experience curates an incredible list of makers and producers and supports the community,” according to Jamie Peha, executive producer and president of Peha Promotions, who has been running the event since 2010. “More than 600 wines are available for tasting throughout the weekend, along with a huge selection of breweries, ciders and distilleries. And with three days at a variety of price options, guests can attend just one event or splurge and enjoy the whole weekend.”

The activities kick off Feb. 24 with Pop! Bubbles & Seafood at McCaw Hall from 6-9 p.m., followed by Comfort on Feb. 25 at the Fremont Foundry from 5-8 p.m., and the popular Grand Tasting on Feb. 26 at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall from 1-5 p.m. — but once again there is a VIP experience, with a one-hour early entry.

Pop! Bubbles & Seafood offers more than 30 sparkling wines from around the world, paired with delicious seafood prepared by local chefs. A wonderful Seattle experience!

Comfort features comfort food such as mac and cheese and burgers, along with beer and cider. Oh, and did we mention a Fry Bar? How cool is that?

The Grand Tasting is the largest of the three events, with 25 chefs, 100 wineries and dozens of beer, cider and spirits purveyors. You can find a full list of wineries that will be pouring, along with beer and cider and spirits,in addition to information about numerous restaurants serving gourmet bites.

The event benefits Les Dames d’Escoffier Seattle, a philanthropic organization that provides scholarships and mentoring for women in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality industries.

More than 200 wines from Washington, Oregon, California and international regions were judged by a panel of experts who tasted and reviewed the wines under blind conditions, not knowing the producers, region of origin or prices.

Of the 204 wines submitted, 130 were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals. Top honors went to:

A full list of awards can be viewed at Seattle Wine and Food Experience. This year’s judges’ panel, led by northwest-based wine journalists Andy Perdue and Eric Degerman, were Doug Charles, Lane Hoss, Rebecca Murphy, Chris Nishiwaki, Tim O’Brien, April Reddout, Yashar Shayan, Dawn Smith and Mark Takagi. You can read more about the judges and their credentials at Seattle Wine and Food Experience.

You’d better move quickly – tickets are going fast for the eighth annual Seattle Wine and Food Experience. If you like good wine, beer and food, mark your calendars for this delicious experience on Feb. 20-21.

The activities kick off Feb. 20 with Pop! Bubbles & Seafood at McCaw Hall from 6-9 p.m. On Feb. 21, the Grand Tasting takes place at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall from 1-5 p.m. — but once again there is a VIP experience, with a one-hour early entry.

Pop! Bubbles & Seafood offers more than 40 sparkling wines from around the world, to be paired with seafood — from salmon and clams to oysters and shrimp — prepared by 16 local chefs. And let’s not forget the caviar! Other beverages available are red and white wines, special cocktails, cold beer and chilled cider.

The Grand Tasting features more than 190 leading wine brands, craft brewers, cider makers, distillers and chefs.

“We’ve added some terrific new experiences this year,” said Jamie Peha, event producer and president of Peha Promotions. “The weekend is much more than a tasting. By working closely with our vendors we create unique ways for our guests to deeply engage with a variety of select offerings.”

In addition, Tim Kennedy, who started Tim’s Chips, has carved out an hour to greet fans and autograph limited edition bags of Tim’s chips to commemorate the brand’s 30th anniversary.

You can find a full list of wineries that will be pouring, along with beer and cider and spirits,in addition to information about numerous restaurants serving gourmet bites.

The event benefits Les Dames d’Escoffier Seattle, a 501c3 non-profit organization that focuses on raising funds for scholarships for women in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality industries, and also supports community-outreach programs and sustainable-agriculture projects based in Washington State.

Both Darighe 2010, a velvety Bordeaux blend, and Dussek 2010, an elegant big and bold Cabernet Sauvignon, won Best of Class Gold, making Woodhouse the only winery to win two of these coveted SWFE awards. In addition, Woodhouse’s 2010 Maghee Merlot won Gold and 2010 Cabernet Franc won Silver.

We first fell in love with Darighe’s 2001 vintage, and have included it in our favorites ever since. Dussek Cab was top of our list for its 2004 and 2006 vintages, and we are pleased to see the recent 2010 winning top honors.

For a blast from the past, check out our blog post, Darighe Time, in August 2007 when we wrote about how the 2002 Darighe was going to be as highly coveted as the 2001. Fast forward almost eight years, and the rich Bordeaux blend is still bringing home the gold!

We’re also happy that Maghee Merlot won Gold as well – this is the wine that first brought us to the Woodhouse tasting room in Woodinville because we read somewhere the Maghee was a “big boy” Merlot, which appealed to us because we prefer big robust reds to any other wine.

And while we haven’t yet tasted the Silver-winning Cabernet Franc, stay tuned – we will be tasting it in the months ahead and expect to be adding it to our favorite Cab Franc list.

We strongly recommend that you visit The Woodhouse Wine Estates warehouse-chic tasting room in Woodinville — either now, during Washington Wine Month, or any time you are looking for a good Washington wine to savor.